In the aftermath of the mutiny of the paramilitary group Wagner, North Korea gave its full support to Russia. For the North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister, “the Russian army and people will certainly overcome the trials and emerge heroically victorious from the special military operation against Ukraine”.
North Korea offered its full support to Russia after the mutiny by the paramilitary group Wagner, state media reported on Sunday. In a meeting with Russian Ambassador to Pyongyang, Alexander Matsegora, North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Im Chon Il “expressed his firm belief that the recent armed rebellion in Russia will be successfully suppressed”, North Korean news agency KCNA reported.
“The Russian army and people will certainly overcome the hardships”
The forces of the paramilitary group Wagner began to leave their positions in Russia on the orders of their leader Yevgeny Prigojine, who did an about face after frontally challenging the authority of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Im Chon Il said that “the Russian army and people will definitely overcome the hardships and emerge heroically victorious from the special military operation against Ukraine,” according to KCNA.
For Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine threatens the “stability of the Russian state”. “There will be implications for the Russia-China-North Korea bloc, and officials in Beijing and Pyongyang are no doubt taking notes to avoid repeating Moscow’s mistakes,” he added.
North Korea called the conflict a US “proxy war” aimed at destroying Russia and condemned Western military aid to kyiv. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Russia has long vetoed new sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program and repeated missile launches.